North Carolina defeated Duke on Saturday night to emerge from the Final Four and earn a place in the NCAA Championship Game.
With the victory, not only did the Tar Heels secure a shot at the title, but they also effectively ended the career of Blue Devils head coach Mike Krzyzewski.
After the fact, many eagle-eyed viewers couldn’t help but notice that Duke players refused to shake hands with their opponents once the final buzzer sounded.
Wow. Most Duke players left the court without shaking hands with UNC players. Sad! pic.twitter.com/3CtwKTMy4O
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) April 3, 2022
Fan reaction was swift:
bottom line you dont leave your ICON of a coach out there by himself on his last game!!!hats off to the one duke player that stood with his coach ! duke beat themselves with FT shooting! GL TO UNC BRING IT HOME #ACC GO @WakeMBB lol https://t.co/NjEyIPPjrz
— BRICKS $ PICKS (@RickyPruitt19) April 3, 2022
Shaking hands shouldn’t be a requirement after a game https://t.co/MC8I2LzaiP
— MD (@MDarden23) April 3, 2022
MAN FUCK EM WE IN THE BIG DANCE BABY https://t.co/RTXhOYtkpo
— MALC (@opmMalc_) April 3, 2022
Coach K coaches his last game, which is an epic Final Four game vs their biggest rival and y’all want to talk about handshakes.
How about focusing on the huge & clutch play of Caleb Love. An 8 seed making the title game. Coach K’s legacy.
Nope, let’s make it abt handshakes. https://t.co/IjBjNZhU7H
— Michael Sloniker (@msloniker122217) April 3, 2022
What do you expect? You learn from your coach. Reminds me of the Lima senior team a few years ago https://t.co/fAzXyZxpI8
— Derek Jennings (@DJTheSavage1) April 3, 2022
That’s how it should be, sportsmanship is so outdated in my opinion https://t.co/1sQpNWWtVT
— K. (@_YoungCR7) April 3, 2022
So what happened there? Well, the Duke players had just come off playing the most high-stakes and emotional game of their careers. Not only did they just barely lose to their most hated rivals, but that defeat also signaled the end of their head coach’s epic run.
Does that excuse the bad sportsmanship? Obviously not. But is it a little more understandable in that light? Yes.
After the fact, Krzyzewski opted not to address the handshake controversy or do any sort of career introspection. He wanted to keep it about the kids.
We won’t be getting career introspection from Coach K tonight. “I’d rather not,” he said, when asked to reflect. “I’m not thinking about my career right now.”
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) April 3, 2022
“You’re either crying for joy, or you’re crying for sorrow … I have a bunch of kids who are crying, and I’m proud of them. They’ve been a joy to coach.”
– Coach K to @tracywolfson pic.twitter.com/beZ5ZhPeEi
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) April 3, 2022
In a college basketball season that has witnessed an Arizona player involved in a bizarre groping scandal, an ESPN cameraman repeatedly zoom in on a cheerleader’s butt and a troubling brouhaha between a player and cheerleader, this handshake controversy is a relatively mild issue.
Duke and North Carolina players partook in an instant classic on Saturday night. For that, they deserve to be proud.
Honest stuff from Paige. https://t.co/60qpv01E5r
— Game 7 (@game7__) April 2, 2022
Would it have been better if this hand shake thing didn’t occur? Sure.
But does it truly mar what fans got to witness? Absolutely not.
Related: Russell Westbrook Explains Why Playing With LeBron Is Hard
A graduate from the University of Texas, Anthony Amador has been credentialed to cover the Houston Texans, Dallas Cowboys, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and high school games all over the Lone Star State. Currently, his primary beats are the NBA, MLB, NFL and UFC.
